Deposit box



J. A. TOWNER DEPOSIT BOX April 24, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 27,1952 IIIHIIIHIIIIHIIIIIAH April 24, 1956 J. A. TOWNER 2,742,994

DEPOSIT BOX Filed Dec. 27, 1952 3 Sheets-$heet 2 I lm enfow J 1411991 1'IZW/i/ DEROSIITBOX iloseph AilbettTdwner, Quebec, Quebec, CanadaApplication December 1952,-Serial No..328,-178

*1 Claim. "(Cl .1 93-3 l The -present .invention .relates .to a depositbox for bank deposits, letter mail or the like and more particularly toa vault or safe .having :a passageway :communicating with theexterionof-a bank atrust company or other like building, whereby thepublic at large may make deposits before, during or after businesshours, that is, twentyfour hours a day including Sundays and holidays.

\ Depositiboxes-of the character described expedite deposits, avoid lossof time for depositors and enable a more even distribution-of the Workamong employees.

Fhe "contents of already -k-nown deposit boxes of the characterdescribed are liable -to 'be damaged by 'liquid, fire =or other elements-due -to the fact "that any malicious person may insert -or drop intothe passageway foreign materials such as 'gasoline, matches, 'water,acids, explosives and the like. As the contents of said deposit boxesare alwaysvaluable, damaging or deterioration results in a considerableloss to the bank and to the customers.

Accordingly, the main object of the present invention is the provisionof a deposit box of the character described which is provided with meansto prevent liquids and other undesirable articles such as acids, water,matches, gasoline, explosives etc. from entering the vault adapted toreceive the deposits.

Yet another important object of the present invention is the provisionof a deposit box of the character described which is provided with meansto prevent unau' thorized withdrawal of the contents in the deposit safeor vault.

Still another important object of the present invention is the provisionof a deposit box of the character described which will be burglar-proofand fire-proof.

Still another important object of the present invention is the provisionof a deposit box which is provided with two chutes, one being adapted toreceive small size packages such as deposit slips, mail envelopes andthe like, while the other chute is adapted to receive larger sizepackages such as money bags and the like.

Yet another important object of the present invention is the provisionof a deposit box of the kind described which may also be installed inmulti-story buildings, on sidewalks or other public places.

The foregoing and other important objects of the present invention willbecome more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring tothe drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation, partly cut away, of a building wall and of thetrap door of the deposit box according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective sectional view of the trap door and upperportion of the chute;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the deposit box arrangementaccording to the invention;

Figure 4 is a plan section of the same;

Figure 5 is a fractional perspective view, partly in section, of thedeposit slip chute;

Figure 6 is a section along line 6-6 of Figure 3; and I Figure 7 is arear face elevation of the trap door.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in v United StatesPatent 0 ice 2 which .like reference characters :indicate :like elementsthroughout,.Alindicates an exterionwall-of a :bank building vor theliketo which issecured a base plate Z2, preferably made of heavycastinggandprovided with a slot 3 forideposit slips and a'trap door :1 for depositsof :larger size such-as money bags andthe like.

The base plate 2 is preferably provided with an toutward rib not shown)along the :upper edge of :the :slot .3 to protect the latter againstrain and to guide thedeposit slipsiinto said slot.

Therslot-S incommunication with a shallow'chute 4 .of rectangularcross-section-antl extending downwardly at an angle within the buildingtoopentat its downward end into a small vault-or-safe 5 providedwitha'combination lock door6.

The trap door 11's adapted to establish communication between theexterior and a elarge size chute .7 extending downwardly at ananglewithin the building and discharg- .in'g ldire'ctlyiinto .a vaultor space:8 provided at its top with a combination.lock-door-9. The doors=6 a-nd9may ibep'ened'only-by authorizedgpersons.

In order to ,prevent liquids and'other-undesirable articles such .asmatches, rocks, bricks, explosives, acids and the like from reaching thevaults 5 .and 8, a vertical -well 10 is provided within the concretestructure of the de- ,posit assembly, said well :10 being disposedadjacent the inside face of thetbuilding wallA-andcommunicating with.thechutes 4 and7through -transverse slots .11and 1 2.made in-the=bottom of saidtrespective chutes. A .receptacle:13 containing sandor :the like is positioned at the bottom 1 of the -well r10 :to ;receivethe undesirable articles. The ireceptacle 13 may be removed through adoor opening closed ibyla door The door 24 maybeopenedonlythy-authorized persons. Instead of the receptacle 13, a sewer pipe maybe provided at the bottom of the well 10, preferably connected with thesewer system of the building and having its opening within well 10preferably covered with a perforated cone. The well 10 is separated fromthe vaults 5 and 8 by a thick concrete wall 14 so that the undesirablearticles may not damage the contents of said vaults by fire orexplosion.

The bottom of the portion of the chute 7 upstream of the slot 12 isformed by a metal plate 26 and by a plurality of longitudinallyextending spaced parallel rods 15 pro jecting within the well 10 andterminated by bevelled elongated ends 16 forming one side of the slot12. The money bags and the like desirable articles will have a minimumwidth and length to pass smoothly over the slot 12.

The metal bottom 18 of the downstream portion of the large chute 7 islined with longitudinally extending spaced parallel rods 15' adapted tofacilitate the sliding down of the packages received by said chute 7 andthe lower pointed end 17 of said rods 15' project slightly from thebottom 18 to provide fingers for preventing retraction of the contentsof the vault 8.

Similarly the bottom of chute 4 is constituted by spaced parallel rods4' forming pointed fingers 4" at the discharge end of said chute.

To make unauthorized withdrawal of the contents of vault 8 practicallyimpossible, an additional safety device is provided in the form of agate 19 pivoted at 20 to the side Walls of chute 7. A rod 21 passingthrough a tube 22, connects the gate 19 to the trap-door 1 by means ofcrank pins 19' and 1' respectively, the latter passing through anarcuate slot 7' made in a side wall of chute 7. The connection is suchthat opening of the trap-door 1 will close the gate 19 and vice versa.

In order that the lower chute 4 may not prevent the undesirable articlesinserted into the upper chute 7 from reaching the well 10, said lowerchute 4 is disposed adjacent one side wall of the upper chute 7 and well10 as shown more particularly in Figure 5. Said side wall forms aninclined wall portion 23 overlying the lower chute 4 in order that theundesirable articles may drop down the well 10 without being obstructedby the chute 4.

The trap door 1 consists in a front plate 25 horizontally pivoted at itslower edge to the bottom lining plate 26 and is provided withsector-like side walls 27 to which is rigidly secured a transverse plate28 extending at an angle with the front plate 25. A flap 29 is pivotedto the lower edge of the plate 28 for closing the passage formed betweenthe plates 25 and 28. Only deposits of a certain predetermined maximumsize will be able to pass through said passage.

Liquids and other undesirable small sized articles which may passthrough the opening in the trap door but which have dimensions smallerthan those of slot 12 will automatically enter the well 10 through theslot 12. Similarly liquids, matches and the like inserted into the smallchute 4 but having dimensions smaller than those of slot 11 will dropinto the Well 10 through the slot 11 and will not be able to reach thevault 5.

Although a deposit box arrangement particularly adapted to be mounted ina bank building has been described, it will be understood that certainmodifications may be resorted to: for instance the installation of sucha deposit box may be made in a multi-story building in which a trap door1 and slot 3 may be provided on each floor and which communicates byauxiliary chutes with common chutes 7 and 4. Likewise the small chute 4could be dispensed with provided that the well 10, which forms anessential part of the invention, be retained.

While a preferred embodiment according to the invention has beenillustrated and described it is understood that various modificationsmay be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theappended claim.

What I claim is:

An article conducting chute comprising an entrance end and a dischargeend, a bottom for said chute consisting of two groups of longitudinallyextending parallel spaced rods, means disposed underneath said rods forsupporting the same, the rods of one of said groups extending from saidentrance end, said last named rods being downwardly inclined and havingtheir lower ends projecting from said supporting means, the rods of theother of said groups being downwardly inclined, having their upper endsspaced from the lower ends of the rods of said one of said groups so asto define a transverse slot in the bottom of said chute, the lower endsof the rods of the other of said groups terminating at said dischargeend of said chute and forming fingers projecting beyond said supportingmeans, further including a trap door pivoted in the entrance end of saidchute, said trap door comprising sector-like side walls, divergingtransverse walls connecting said side walls, one of said transversewalls extending short of the other of said transverse walls so as toleave an opening, and a flap pivoted on said one transverse wall toclose said opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS354,909 Kingwill Dec. 28, 1886 521,599 Bofird et a1. June 19, 18941,153,991 Wood Sept.21, 1915 1,533,523 Thoma Apr. 14, 1925 l,538,239Claudepierrc May 19, 1925 1,632,536 Breen June 14, 1927 l,824,502Robinson Sept. 22, 1931 2,364,243 Riddle Dec. 5, 1944 2,561,880 Nicolauset al July 24, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 52,275 Sweden Apr. 19, 1917

